A few weeks ago, Mackenzie and I filled our Honda Civic with camping gear and supplies and went on a three-day adventure along the Washington Coast and around the Olympic National Park. We've been to the Washington Coast before, but never to the Olympic peninsula.
And believe it or not, this is only the second time we've been camping since we've lived in Washington. The first was for our second anniversary. It wasn't exactly a disaster, but we did get rained on quite a bit, and in hindsight it didn't seem like we packed all the supplies we should have. That wasn't entirely the reason we hadn't been camping again, but I think it kept Mackenzie from wanting to do so anytime soon.
But we wanted to take a short trip this summer and knew we needed to do so with a small budget, so we decided to give camping another go. I'm happy to say our second experience was far better than our first.
We stayed at Kalaloch Campground, literally one block from the beach. Even in August it was cloudy and cool, but we kept a warm fire going at all times while at our site. We even did most of our cooking over the fire, which I think was one of Mackenzie's favorite things. We went with a few of the tried-and-true camping favorites (hobo stew, franks and beans, smores, etc.) and even tried making bacon and coffee over the fire.
While we were there, we took a few hikes along the beach, as well as a few day trips to the Hoh Rain Forest, La Push, and Ruby Beach. Driving just a few miles from the coast, the sun would start to peak out and the temperature would increase by at least ten degrees--weird Washington weather.
My favorite part was lunch along the Hoh River. We found a spot just off the beaten path, stuck our feet in the freezing cold water, and enjoyed the view.
On our way home we took the northern route and stopped along the way to explore Port Angeles, Hurricane Ridge, and Port Townsend. We're already making plans to go back.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Trip to Friday Harbor
As I started to write a post about our trip to the Washington Coast a few weeks ago (coming soon), I realized I hadn't written anything about our trip to Friday Harbor in July with my parents. This summer has just flown by (due partly to the fact that warm, sunny days have been few and far between, which unfortunately, was the case on our trip). But we didn't let that stop us; we never do.
We had a great time exploring San Juan Island: watching for whales along Lime Kiln Point, having breakfast and dinner at Roche Harbor, visiting Mona the camel at the San Juan Vineyard, and hiking through the English Camp and American Camp. Check out some pictures from our trip below.
We had a great time exploring San Juan Island: watching for whales along Lime Kiln Point, having breakfast and dinner at Roche Harbor, visiting Mona the camel at the San Juan Vineyard, and hiking through the English Camp and American Camp. Check out some pictures from our trip below.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Garden Update: Veggies are Thriving
In lieu of writing about how our garden is growing, I thought pictures would tell you more!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
No, I'm not Laura Ingalls...
but I am enjoying my new adventures in canning!
For my birthday last year, my parents gave me a cooking class. I chose from a number of them and selected a class on canning. I loved the class, typically enjoy cooking, and was excited to apply my new learning.
In January I made citrus marmalade and enjoyed the process, eating my creation, and sharing it with friends. Now that we're gardening and bringing in quite a bit of produce, I'd like to take a more serious approach.
My goal this summer is to can most of our tomatoes (we don't really eat them fresh), make blueberry jam with all the blueberries from our bushes, make applesauce from our apple tree, blackberry jam from our blackberry vine (if it produces enough), and pickled jalapenos. Many of our other veggies we look forward to freezing to use throughout the year. I'm also in the process of learning how to dry and store our herbs.
So far this year I've made and "put up" three pints of preserved lemons, four pints of lemon marmalade, two pints of pickled carrots, quite a bit of strawberry jam, five pints of sliced peaches, and I think next on my list will be blackberry jam once our blackberries ripen!
Check out a few of my products...
For my birthday last year, my parents gave me a cooking class. I chose from a number of them and selected a class on canning. I loved the class, typically enjoy cooking, and was excited to apply my new learning.
In January I made citrus marmalade and enjoyed the process, eating my creation, and sharing it with friends. Now that we're gardening and bringing in quite a bit of produce, I'd like to take a more serious approach.
My goal this summer is to can most of our tomatoes (we don't really eat them fresh), make blueberry jam with all the blueberries from our bushes, make applesauce from our apple tree, blackberry jam from our blackberry vine (if it produces enough), and pickled jalapenos. Many of our other veggies we look forward to freezing to use throughout the year. I'm also in the process of learning how to dry and store our herbs.
So far this year I've made and "put up" three pints of preserved lemons, four pints of lemon marmalade, two pints of pickled carrots, quite a bit of strawberry jam, five pints of sliced peaches, and I think next on my list will be blackberry jam once our blackberries ripen!
Check out a few of my products...
preserved lemons
lemon marmalade
Sunday, August 08, 2010
FAQs
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions as we pursue adoption, so I'll do my best to answer them!
How long do you think the process will take?
We don't know! That is the challenge and excitement of adoption. It could be a year, it could be many years. What we do know though is that it will all happen according to God's perfect timing. That is to say, we certainly have days where we're discouraged or anxious for the arrival of our children, but ultimately we find peace in placing our trust and hope in Jesus and not in the day our kids are welcomed into our home. (That will be an exciting day though!)
Why are you guys pursuing adoption?
We are pursuing adoption, because we feel called to do so. While we struggled to get pregnant and later learned that medically speaking our chances of getting pregnant without medical intervention are very slim, we feel called to pursue adoption. That is to say, if we do become pregnant, we would still pursue adoption of other children into our family.
What age of a child are you interested in adopting?
At this point, we are planning to adopt an infant or a very young child or sibling group. We are open to God changing our hearts about this, but for now, we're looking to grow as parents with a very little person.
Do you have any specifics that you told your agency - race? gender?
We are open and excited to welcome a child of any race or gender into our home and family.
Are you adopting domestically or internationally?
Antioch Adoptions, our fabulous adoption agency, serves families in western Washington and most of the children they place are from within our state. While in certain instances, children have been placed by Antioch from other states across the country, all the children are from the United States.
We may eventually adopt internationally, but for "Round One," as we like to call it, we'll be adopting domestically.
Where are you in the adoption process?
We recently finished our PRIDE classes, which are classes for people interested in becoming foster homes or adoptive homes. This is a requirement of both the state and our agency before we can move forward in the process. In October and January, we'll be taking two classes through our adoption agency. After that we'll complete a home study, where a social worker will evaluate our home to determine whether placement of a child would be appropriate. From there, we'll be waiting on placement.
Other questions? Ask away!
How long do you think the process will take?
We don't know! That is the challenge and excitement of adoption. It could be a year, it could be many years. What we do know though is that it will all happen according to God's perfect timing. That is to say, we certainly have days where we're discouraged or anxious for the arrival of our children, but ultimately we find peace in placing our trust and hope in Jesus and not in the day our kids are welcomed into our home. (That will be an exciting day though!)
Why are you guys pursuing adoption?
We are pursuing adoption, because we feel called to do so. While we struggled to get pregnant and later learned that medically speaking our chances of getting pregnant without medical intervention are very slim, we feel called to pursue adoption. That is to say, if we do become pregnant, we would still pursue adoption of other children into our family.
What age of a child are you interested in adopting?
At this point, we are planning to adopt an infant or a very young child or sibling group. We are open to God changing our hearts about this, but for now, we're looking to grow as parents with a very little person.
Do you have any specifics that you told your agency - race? gender?
We are open and excited to welcome a child of any race or gender into our home and family.
Are you adopting domestically or internationally?
Antioch Adoptions, our fabulous adoption agency, serves families in western Washington and most of the children they place are from within our state. While in certain instances, children have been placed by Antioch from other states across the country, all the children are from the United States.
We may eventually adopt internationally, but for "Round One," as we like to call it, we'll be adopting domestically.
Where are you in the adoption process?
We recently finished our PRIDE classes, which are classes for people interested in becoming foster homes or adoptive homes. This is a requirement of both the state and our agency before we can move forward in the process. In October and January, we'll be taking two classes through our adoption agency. After that we'll complete a home study, where a social worker will evaluate our home to determine whether placement of a child would be appropriate. From there, we'll be waiting on placement.
Other questions? Ask away!
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Cliff the Builder
My husband is wonderful for a number of reasons, but I love that when he gets an idea in his head, he works tirelessly until it is completed! That was the case most recently with the four additional raised veggie beds he built a few weekends ago.
The catalyst for these beds came when we planted sugar snap peas again this year and they took over our veggie beds! So we decided that having a bed for our tall crops (beans, peas, cucumbers, etc.) separate from others would help all of them receive enough sun for them to thrive. We went ahead and built the new beds this summer so we could begin our winter crops in them now and then have our tall crops in them next year.
Check out Cliff's handiwork...
The catalyst for these beds came when we planted sugar snap peas again this year and they took over our veggie beds! So we decided that having a bed for our tall crops (beans, peas, cucumbers, etc.) separate from others would help all of them receive enough sun for them to thrive. We went ahead and built the new beds this summer so we could begin our winter crops in them now and then have our tall crops in them next year.
Check out Cliff's handiwork...
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